Exodus
by Houyoku
Summary: After the fall of a great friend by the hand of his own son, Kratos contemplates what he must do. Although his path is different from the connected worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, he has at least on guarantee. (yes, there are too many Kratos fics ..)


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Exodus

Written by Becki

(C) Tales of Symphonia

Characters and ideas belong to Namco.

Kyaa! I'm so excited! bounces up and down This is my first fanfic in the ToS section! I should post now and early before all the insane and crazy shounen-ai freaks get here! (no offense, but it's my opinion.) I had to write about Kratos, even though everybody seems to have already done that ; I'm writing a fic about Sheena too, so I'll post that eventually.

This is a pretty short fic, but I just felt like writing it, for some reason. Also, I've changed some of the words in the script, mainly because I couldn't remember it word for word, and.. yeah.. Hope you like it

Becki

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WARNING: This is Spoiler-ridden!

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Tree of Kharlan

Eyes opened, the pupil that was tense retracted back to a calmer state. Eyes of dark regret and somber history. A gentle breeze combed through dark, crimson shaded hair, caressing his face with a cool touch. The earth shuddered in recognition, in fear of what would happen.

He looked up, the wind parting his hair and uncovering his eyes, leading his gaze further up towards the heavens. And suddenly, things felt not the same as it had before. The sudden lack of life, as well as the abundance of it. Mana which fled from the unknown world to balance this world. It was done. The two pieces of the puzzle that had been ripped apart, had been joined again.

It was wrong. The land was scrambling for mana, there was not enough for both worlds.

_Kra...tos..._

Through natural reaction his hand went to the area by the empty sheathe that rested by his side. No more was the familiar hilt at his waist, it was gone. His brow went up in surprise as the voice wailed in the wind. His attention was focused then towards the grave that he stood by. The grave that had been carved by dwarven hands, not his own.

All around him, the background seemed to fade. His face changed as a figure which had formed above looked down, reaching with wide arms.

"Anna.." His voice echoed in disbelief, mixed with hidden relief and forbidden fear.

_Oh, Kratos.._ She reached down, but as he extended his hand towards her, she suddenly flinched back, the ocean of auburn curls following her every move. _Oh, Kratos, I'm afraid.. that if I touch you, you will disappear.._ Her eyes were a dim violet, shining with despair and loss.

"How is this.." He began, but she put a finger on her lip and watched him with desire.

_No. My final wish to Martel was to see you again, to speak with you. I live on in the exphere that our son heralds. You mustn't forget that. This world, it is still young._

He was silent, his eyes cast before him, he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

_Yes. It is one world now. But you grieve..? You grieve._

"Mithos is.." He looked at her, his uncovered eye narrow with hurt. Her image began to fade, and she descended down towards him.

_Kra...Kratos.. Listen carefully. please.. listen.. Heal the wounds and staunch the fatal cut you bear._ She came down so close that she could touch him. Her hands reached out to embrace him, but she moved to hold him, she faded away. Her grave remained untouched and unhindered, as it had before. Kratos looked up towards the sky. Strokes of blue unfurled like a huge lotus, and fell down, beyond where he could see. The discolored sky cleared, and a single light seemed to fall down.

He closed his eyes again, listening. And beyond, he could hear the voices, hushed, but then louder and triumphant.

**_Lloyd.. pick a name for us.. for our tree, the Tree of the world.._**

A tree that links the worlds... ...All right, I got it.

**_This tree's name.. will be..._**

.......Yggdrasil.

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The ruins of what was once the mark, the symbol of Salvation glittered still with some malice. The wind whispered in breathy tones. The rubble around his feet, the stones that scattered the ground. Kratos looked up at the falling world of Derris-Kharlan.

"..so.. are you sure that you have to go..?" The sound of footsteps approached behind him as the question hung in his ears. Kratos turned around to see the inquiring face of the swordsman.

"I am an angel of Cruxis." He said simply. "And as such, it is my responsibility. I have dragged you in this till the bitter end." He said, his palm spread out towards his son.

"...it's okay." Lloyd replied, although he remembered that it had not been his father's fault for his involvement. "I'm going on a journey to collect all expheres." He said, changing the subject. He was known to be good at that when the conversation was making him uncomfortable.

"And I will discard all of Cruxis' exphere's into space." Kratos said. It was to erase all influences of Cruxis and their deeds.

Yet, it seemed not so long ago when the innocent voice of a young hero sought to find peace and harmony. When he wanted nothing but a place for himself and his sister. He had done all that he could, only to do what he believed what was right.

"Lloyd. Please use that sword to send me to Derris-Kharlan." Kratos said, with each second that dragged on, the former world of the elves was falling away. It was time for the seraphim's journey to this world. Alone with the soulless beings of the angels who still existed. Who knew if Kratos would ever be seen at the foot of Sylvarant or Tethe'alla again. His exodus had begun.

"All right.. goodbye... dad!" It was the first time this dwarf-raised youth had called him by such a title. Kratos looked at him in surprise, but chose not to say anything.

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The world fell away. His eyes drew down towards the place where Sylvarant and Tethe'alla was closest. And he could almost see the sapling as it tumbled against the cruel wind. The tree that would lin the two worlds and provide the mana and life of both.

His son had chosen well the name of such a tree.

Mithos Yggdrasil, had saved the worlds by forcing it apart. Mithos Yggdrasil had tried to reform it by radical deeds. But the love for his sister was equally matched for his love for equality.

This single act of giving the tree its name had been enough to purge Kratos' grief of losing his greatest companion and friend. Anna had spoken true.

As Kratos stared through the thick veil of Derris-Kharlan, he stepped back to descend into this world. For the first time in seventeen years, there was even the slightest smile that formed on his face.

_Don't die before I do, Lloyd.... my son._

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Yes, my theory was that Lloyd called the Giant Kharlan tree 'Yggdrasil'. My friend told me that in Norse mythology, Yggdrasil was the giant tree that connected the world and gave life. I looked it up for myself, and it was really interesting. (The giant that Yggdrasil sprung up from in the myth was called 'Ymir'. Video games take a lot of names from mythology.) It makes sense, doesn't it? And Lloyd seemed to respect Mithos, although he was essentially their enemy.

So then I asked my friend why the game was called 'Tales of Symphonia', and he said; "Don't ask me!" Haha, what a genius I have for a friend XP

...Sorry, this fic was pretty pointless/stupid wasn't it? .o; Sorry..


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